


Desert Scar

by Katlou303



Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Haruno Sakura, F/M, Haruno Sakura-centric, Old work, One-Sided Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, POV Haruno Sakura, Strong Haruno Sakura
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-03 03:45:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14560164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katlou303/pseuds/Katlou303
Summary: Sakura fought Gaara in the Chuunin exam, leaving her scarred physically and mentally.Four years later, the Kazekage wants her as his assistant.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (fair warning - this work is seven years old and was written by a very earnest, very amateur Katlou. I will tweaking bits here and there as I post, but I can't change the plot, which might be baloney. We'll see!)
> 
> If you see bold additions to the author's note, that's me making fun of myself. Feel free to join in!

HARUNO SAKURA VS GAARA

Sasuke stared at the electric scoreboard announcing the names of the first fight. Sakura was going to have to fight that red-head, the strong shinobi from Suna. Sakura, to her credit, looked absolutely terrified, but gritted her teeth and began to walk slowly towards the stairs. Naruto screwed up his face in worry and Kakashi sighed.

Sakura went to walk past their sensei but he put a hand out to stop her. "Be careful with this one…" He warned, hand tight on her shoulder.

Sakura swallowed, hard, and nodded.

Sabaku no Gaara was waiting.

His eyes were hungry, a green much paler than her own, Sakura thought wildly as she descended the stairs. That odd gourd of his was strapped to him, and whatever filled it must be his secret technique.  _Think_  Sakura, she urged herself, what secret techniques have been discovered in Suna shinobi bodies? She couldn't remember. She could remember what Sasuke's favourite food, when his birthday was and the day to avoid him. But  _this_ , no  _this_ was far too important to remember.

Sakura forced her legs to stop shaking as she stood opposite Gaara. Hayate, the jounin standing in as referee, asked her if she was ready to begin. She looked up at her team. Sasuke was as impassive as ever, though the mere fact that he was looking at her, right at her, with his sharingan activated showed just how much trouble she was in. Kakashi had pulled his mask down to show both eyes. Was he thinking about jumping in and saving her, even now, before the match had even begun? Naruto, however, beamed and jumped up and down, waving, shouting encouragements to her and threats to Gaara. One of Gaara's teammates, the boy with the painted face, he looked a little sick. The girl next to him was smirking. Lee, lovely chivalric Lee, looked so solemn and pale that Sakura's heart ached for him.

With a popping sound, the cork to Gaara's gourd fell out and with shocking speed flew towards Sakura's face.

Sasuke stood before her casually, the smoke from his jutsu curling around his legs. He held the cork with one hand. He looked at it for a moment before throwing it down in disgust.

"Hey, he's interfering!" The girl in Gaara's team said indignantly.

"The match hasn't started yet." Shikamaru yawned.

Hayate nodded. "Gaara, please refrain from attacking before the match has started. And you, get back up there before I'm forced to disqualify your teammate." He jerked his head up to the balcony.

Sasuke, too cool to walk, put his hands in the seal for instant transportation. Sakura grabbed his arm.

"Thank you." She said simply, hoping her voice didn't betray the terror she felt.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly. "Hm. You should forfeit."

How weak did you have to be to have everyone who knew you (and others that do not) expect you to lose? How pathetic she must look to them all. Match not even properly begun and already she had been protected by someone else.

"I didn't come all this way just to forfeit." Sakura said calmly, though the seething terror that swept through her threatened to dispel that calm.

Sasuke snorted and vanished into smoke beneath her fingers. As he always did.

Gaara was getting impatient. His eyes were fixed upon her.

Hayate asked them both if they were ready to start. Sakura said yes, numb with fear. Gaara nodded jerkily, his movements oddly disjointed, as though he was holding himself back.

And the match began.

Sakura flew back instantly, kunai between her fingers, various techniques flitting through her mind.

The gourd imploded into sand. Before Sakura could register this, the sand rushed towards her like a snake, writhing through the air. Her hair blew back before the force of it, and Sakura completed the Kawarimi faster than she had ever imagined. She replaced herself with her headband, the first thing she could think of, and transported herself behind Gaara.

Gaara whirled around and the sand attacked again. Sakura wasn't fast enough to dodge, so she summoned a tiny paper bomb and threw it at the sand approaching. As she did so, she focused chakra to her feet and exploded off the ground, coming to land in front of Gaara, leg already automatically snapping out to catch Gaara in the face. Her leg sank into sand. She jumped back and managed to throw herself out of the way of a fist of sand. The paper bomb was going off wildly, hissing and spitting sparks. The sand it struck reformed seconds later.

_Have to incapacitate him. Need time to think, to plan._

While the sand whirled around her and stung her eyes, Sakura summoned a paper tag. She attached it to a kunai quickly, then summoned a few more tags. This had to be done swiftly, and in between evading the sand's attacks.

Sakura threw the paper-tagged kunai directly at Gaara's face. The sand rushed up to defend him from the explosion, whilst Sakura, her chakra running low, managed to transport herself to Gaara's unprotected back and fling another kunai. She activated both tags and somersaulted away.

Gaara exploded into a mess of sand and smoke. Sakura could sense raging blood thirst. She shuddered and tried to force her hands into picking up another kunai. The smoke cleared, and a monster was revealed.

Gaara's normally blank face was cracked in two ways, first with an insane, wide grin and second with a literal crack running down his cheek. Sand poured from his face as he stood there and grinned, his mouth a feral slash across his face.

Sakura barely raised her arms to protect herself when Gaara hurtled towards her. The sand was everywhere, ideas of jutsus to use were rushing through her head at an impossible pace and she was blind and gasping, on her knees, her arms covering her eyes.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted.

The sand tightened around her body, constricting and binding. Sakura, weak and dizzy from pain, released the paper tag she'd kept hidden in her hand the whole time and let it float between herself and the partially-obscured form of Gaara.

Seconds passed, and Sakura felt something snap in her arm. She ignited the tag.

She was thrown forcefully across the room, landing and skidding on the floor, every skid stinging her burnt skin. She coughed, hard, and blood spilt from her mouth wetly. The amount of pain in her body was sickening, overwhelming.

Sakura was grateful for the rushing darkness that welcomed her as she passed out.

Sasuke had been coolly dismissive of her after that, citing her refusal to forfeit as foolish and suicidal. Naruto had visited her in the hospital every day he could, and cried the first time he saw her. Kakashi-sensei visited infrequently, but when he did he always cheered her up.

Apparently, Kakashi had stopped Gaara from killing her. This meant that she had not lost. She had been disqualified.

Gaara had defeated her in the Chuunin exams, and thus went on to fight Rock Lee in the next round. Lee had fought against Ino previously, and had rather spectacularly defeated her, but when he went up against Gaara he was viciously and solidly beaten. He had been left with his dreams of becoming a shinobi destroyed, and Sakura had despised Gaara for it. But Naruto came back with reports of Gaara's new attitude, and Tsunade managed to heal Lee, so her hatred had been replaced by suspicion.

She'd first awoke, mad and delirious, feeling a horrible stinging feeling stretching across her entire body, plastic in her mouth, see-through tubes covering her, bile rushing up in her throat.

She'd been sedated, and woke up again much later, feeling the burnt skin and broken bones as keenly as she had when they had first happened.

She had turned her head and had seen a woman with blonde hair and kind hazel eyes. Sakura's own eyes had filled with tears and she could only mouth 'hurts.' The woman nodded and her hands glowed. Sakura's eyes rolled back into her head.

xxxxxxxx

And now, four years later, she had arrived in Suna to hear a proposal the Kazekage had for her.

Sakura's hair was covered by a pretty pale green headscarf she'd bought down in the Suna Market, her brow was lightly speckled with sweat and she carried a warm bottle of water at her side, the contents sloshing about as she walked. The sound gave her comfort, for some reason. She had changed over the years, both physically and emotionally. She was tanned and lightly-muscled. Her hair was still short and pale-pink, her eyes still apple green and too big for her face, giving her a child-like appearance. She had been taught the Yin Seal by Tsunade, and, as a result, had a purple diamond tattoo on her forehead. She was disfigured by her arm, the one that had been broken by Gaara. It hung a little loosely at her side, with burn scars shining white on her skin. She could still use it, but it was useless for complicated tasks.

She'd slipped a messenger some money to persuade him to let Gaara know she was here. It wouldn't do, however, to be a guest of the Kazekage and not go to meet him the moment she arrived, so Sakura washed her face and changed into some lighter clothing, a loose white dress and sandals. She kept the headscarf on since it kept her hair out of her face. She'd washed her feet slowly, using her nails to shift the black dirt that had stuck to the skin on her travels, watching the water drain away black.

She breathed in deeply. The smell of Suna was ultimately pleasant, but very different from home. It was the smell of the salt they coated all of their food with, the wind bringing the scent of sand into her room and the sweet dumplings cooking just underneath her window. It was midday, and the sun was shining down fiercely, meaning the village was now boiling hot.

Sakura left the cool, dark room reluctantly, and left to find Gaara's office.

She saw plenty of shinobi running around on her way there, many of them scarred and disfigured. Each one of them wore Suna's symbol proudly.

Her knuckles rapped the door firmly. Sakura scolded herself for wincing at the thought of meeting the Kazekage. It was four years ago, she was no longer twelve and, though he'd not exactly been good company, she'd already met him once after their fight, when he'd died and Chiyo-sama had sacrificed herself for him.

"Come in." His voice sounded hoarse, probably from lack of sleep. Tsunade often missed out on night's sleep, much to Sakura's chagrin.

She opened the door and stepped into the room with as much confidence as she could muster.

The Kazekage was sitting at a massive desk, papers stacked neatly and organised. A glass of water stood besides an important-looking memo and Sakura (used to Tsunade's cavalier attitude when it came to spills) itched to move it out of the way.

Gaara looked the same as he had back when they were kids - well, when she was a kid and he was still a brooding psychopath - same blood-red hair, pale skin and the kanji for 'love' tattooed on his forehead. It should have made him look strange, but Sakura felt a twinge of fear in her stomach at the sight of him.

He put down the papers he'd been shuffling, and stared at her. _Was it the hair_ , she wondered self-consciously. _If it is, I'll shave it off. Anything to stop you looking at me like that_.

"Take off your headscarf." He said softly. He still lacked inflection in his voice. It made him even more impossible to read.

Bemused but aware of her lowly foreigner chuunin state, she pulled the scarf out of her hair. She longed to shake her hair out of the tangled mess it was in, but Gaara's eyes kept her transfixed. They had grown wide.

"You are Haruno Sakura?" He asked, almost suspiciously.

"Yes, Kazekage-sama." She replied, resisting the urge to bow.

"I fought you." He said tonelessly, "In the chuunin exam, in Konoha. The one with all the exploding tags."

"Ah yes. That's me." She smiled weakly.

Gaara's eyes drifted down to her arm where it lay limply at her side. She could still use it, thanks to Tsunade's intensive healing and her own curious or frustrated attempts to straighten the limb out.

Had he been able to see her back, he would have seen the criss-crossing scars that covered it. Her arms were bare, and Sakura could the Kazekage's gaze tracing the scars stretching up from her wrists to her shoulders.

"And then again, in the forest. I used the sand coffin technique on you. I don't recall breaking anything…" A frown twisted his forehead as he continued to stare at her.

"Only a few ribs, they were quickly healed." Sakura supplied.

_Sasuke lying face down, wracked by shudders and paralysed by pain, blood leaking from his mouth. Gaara, now twisted, barely recognisable as human, running towards him. The sensation of being gripped by an overwhelming determination to protect Sasuke, to save him. Standing in the way, gripping a kunai and staring down the monster from her nightmares._

_Being knocked aside like she was nothing, feeling the sand stiffen around her again, then the sickening sensation of being squeezed. Feeling ribs crack and fracture, piercing her lung. Blood pooling in her lung, coughing red. Screaming. Hearing Naruto's desperate shouting. Seeing Sasuke staring at her, his mouth a furious open snarl, limbs twitching and shaking as he tried to get up._

_Falling._

Her worst memories laid bare before her in the curious, clinical eyes of the Kazekage. Sakura's knees shook a little before she firmly quelled the shudders, standing up straight. She would not cower in fear. This man was not who he once was.

"You were one of the first to teach me about caring for others." Gaara commented.

Sakura was startled. When had she ever done that?

"When you tried to stop me killing your teammate, it made me remember… painful things. That is why I wanted to kill you. But you helped plant a seed of doubt in my mind that it was possible to care for others… Naruto, of course, finally changed me. I am grateful to him, and you." Gaara's pale fingers traced the rim of his glass, his eyes contemplative.

"Your actions and Naruto's words did not make sense to me. I thought I was alone in the world. That no one trusted anyone else, that the world was filled with betrayal and hatred. That is why I could not comprehend why you would face someone like me knowing it could kill you, why Naruto would not give up until I stopped hurting those he cared about. 'Care', 'love,' and 'trust' were foreign concepts to me. If not for Naruto and people like you, I would still be a monster."

Sakura smoothed her hair back nervously.

Gaara caught the reflexive movement. "You are afraid of me." There was no doubt in his voice, just a quiet kind of resignation and acceptance.

The heat was sweltering. Sakura felt sweat trickle down her spine. "Yes. But I do understand that you aren't a monster, I know you protected the whole village and that you care about others now. It's just…" Her voice cracked and she swallowed, "I fought you twice, and… I can't explain the fear I had for you. It's silly."

There was a moment of silence. Gaara closed his eyes and sat back in his chair. "It is not 'silly.' The sand coffin was designed to kill, and if not, seriously wound. It is not silly to fear me. It is self-preservation. Not that you need fear myself now, of course. If I ever lost control, I am confident you could stop me."

Wow. If there were ever words to reassure her… those were not them.

"Lost control?"

There was the sound of muffled voices outside the room. Gaara's eyes snapped to the door for a moment, then snapped back to her when he was satisfied there was no threat. Even so, Sakura thought, even now, he looked a little on edge.

"I am still not completely stable and secure. There is a reason why I accepted the Hokage's offer. I am in need of an assistant. Someone who is capable, has experience in the field, and can defend myself and others. You are trained in several areas of combat. Medical, short range, long range, chakra control… Not only that, but it is on your file that you are a teammate and close personal friend of Uzumaki Naruto. I was unaware that you were the girl I fought back in the invasion of Konoha, but, having personally witnessed your fighting style and researched your capability, I decided that Tsunade was correct in suggesting you were the perfect candidate. I ask that you perform the same duties as you did for the Godaime Hokage. Are you interested?" Gaara's expression still had not changed.

How could she say no, having come so far to face her fears?

"Kazekage-sama, I would be honoured to be your assistant." Sakura said resolutely.

"Excellent. This job will be beneficial to both of us. In the Godaime's own words, I gain an 'outstandingly determined and skilled assistant, often over-looked and underestimated, but with a fierce resolve and keen intelligence she will definitely use to assist Suna in every way.' You will gain the impressive title of former apprentice to the Hokage and current assistant of the Kazekage." Gaara didn't look pleased exactly, but his frown had lessened the moment she accepted the offer.

Sakura's cheeks flooded pink with pleasure at the words of high praise from Tsunade. "I will try to be the best assistant you have ever had, Kazekage-sama."

"You would be the first." Gaara said dryly.

"So it shouldn't be too hard to accomplish." Sakura smiled a real smile for the first time, and saw something flicker in the Kazekage's eyes.

"Indeed. Sakura, I have received a thorough account of your needs from the Hokage, and I shall endeavour to see they are met. It is mentioned here that you require a library to study in. There is one in this very building. Tsunade has added that she believes I should lend you to the Suna hospital when needed, and that, as a former resident of Konoha, you are unused to the heat and so –"

"Wait, former resident of Konoha?" She interrupted, too confused to remember her place.

Gaara seemed almost amused. "You won't be required to scratch your hitae-ate and become a missing-nin, but you are a resident of Suna now, for a year or more."

"Oh…" Sakura looked at her feet, embarrassed. "Do I get a headband?"

"No. As a former resident of Konoha, you will require more water and more protection from the sun than the average villager of Suna…"

Gaara went on to list her apparent requirements for over ten minutes, and Sakura felt her fear dissipate slowly as she spoke with the man from her nightmares.

"Oh and also," He said as she went to leave the room, "I hear you were the one that saved Kankuro from Sasori's poison and you were also the one that eventually killed Sasori with Chiyo. I cannot thank you enough for these actions." Gaara said seriously, his eyes fixed on hers.

Sakura could only nod.

xxxxxxxx

Sakura went back to her room with a list of tomorrow's duties. She was supposed to go through Suna's mission reports from shinobi, focusing on inaccuracies and discrepancies. Gaara cared about his people, but he did not trust them. Suna was in a weak political position. Its nearest ally, Iwa, was a village they had warred with several times in the past. They had the lowest population of all the villages and their economic and military strength had suffered from the wars they had waged over the years, particularly the most recent war with Konoha, in which they lost many shinobi.

Then he wanted her to assess the situation of a poisoned sand nin, who was said to be a lost cause. He had three days left, at best.

Sakura put the list on her dresser and went out to stand on the balcony. The smell of dumplings had been replaced by some salty meat frying under her window. She rested her arms on the balcony and looked at the village. Her new home.

It had been difficult, leaving. Ino had cried. Kakashi-sensei looked sad to see her go, the last of his students leaving him. Lee had been on a mission, but she had left him a long, detailed letter outlining just how much she would miss him and how he was welcome to visit her at any moment. Her mother and her grandmother were encouraging. The thing that had pushed her to leave was the fact that both of her teammates had already done so.

Naruto was getting stronger by the day, she was sure of it.

Sasuke… the thought of what he was going through – what he'd put them all through – was enough to make her cry so easily. He'd always had a talent for making her cry. She covered her mouth and sobbed wretchedly. She was in an unfamiliar land, without friends or family. Her best friend was off training so hard to fulfil his promise to her.

And Sasuke had abandoned them all. Her love wasn't enough.

As she cried, she heard the softest sound. It was like footsteps stopping abruptly, and she looked down. Gaara was staring up at her from down in the village square, his face unreadable. She stared back, her tears glistening in the sun.

Neither of them spoke.

***

I figure Sakura is stronger than Kishimoto gives her credit for. She defeated a member of Akatsuki, she's the apprentice of one of the Sannin and she can obliterate the earth with a single punch… and yet rarely wins any fight she's in. There was the dreaded fight with Sasuke, in which she snivelled, cried a bit, and was rescued twice in one scene by two different people.  **< << I still agree with this tbh**

A warning now, this Sakura I will be writing about is not the same person. This fic starts pretty much after the Sasuke and Sai arc, so Sakura has met Sasuke once after his betrayal and she is aware that Naruto is a jinchuuriki. I feel that Kishimoto built her up to be a very strong female character, than dropped her back down to uselessness without warning. I don't want to write Sakura like that, I think she could be a hell of a lot stronger than she is portrayed in canon, and thus will be presented as such in this fic. Also, there WILL be SasuSaku undertones, lets face it, with Sakura there always will be. I'm going to have Sakura act as Gaara's assistant, bodyguard and, hopefully, confidante. I think Sakura (though she never fought Gaara in the chuunin exam in canon) has had a considerable impact on Gaara's life (her protection of Sasuke pushed him further over the edge of becoming more human, without her Kankuro would have died and she killed an important threat to Suna – Sasori), and their personalities are interesting when mixed.

Sakura is wracked with insecurity and doubt, her attempts to get Sasuke's attention only to be rejected over and over again cannot have helped her self-confidence. Not only that, but she declares her love for Sasuke and he once again rejects her and then betrays her. She appears to lose her temper easily, with little patience and restraint, just like Naruto. She's caring and kind, but often thoughtless in her words (shown when she told Sasuke, the orphan, that Naruto was lucky not to have parents).  **< << No idea why I decided to lecture the readers on Sakura's personality.**

Gaara is serious and business-like. He has a tragic past and a dark hidden nature. He is devoted to his village. He is close to his siblings after he once despised them. He has changed rapidly, and has to deal with the suspicion and fear he is faced with every day. Sakura is undoubtedly afraid of Gaara and this will impact their working lives quite severely.  **< << More insightful thoughts from baby Katlou**

How to get romance out of that? Wait and see. (I am new to GaaSaku, btw. Don't hold it against me)  **< << oh I will**

 

P.S. if Sakura appeared overpowered in the fight with Gaara, I apologise, but I don't think I gave her any abilities beyond her canon level of ability. Also I couldn't have her be squashed by him in one hit. Boring to read. Any comments or critiques will be gladly received.  **< << no idea why I worried she might be overpowered. She used some explosive tags and got squashed. OH NO**

 

**I love how boring and serious this author's note is. It's so different from what I do now, which is babble nonsense and throw polls at people.**


	2. Chapter 2

Gaara had not said anything when he found her crying, just turned away and walked towards the hospital. She'd been grateful for that. How do you explain to your new boss that you are very prone to tears? Because she really was, the slightest thing was enough to bring her to tears, her cat coming home with a nasty gash from a fox, Ino wistfully mentioning Sasuke thoughtlessly, Sasuke himself… And when she really did have something to cry about (Haku apparently murdering Sasuke, her teammates suddenly wanting to murder each other, Lee being told he would never fight again…) the tears just  _poured_  out uncontrollably. When Sasuke had left she'd cried all day every day for months and months. Those tear-filled months stretched into years…

And then she saw him. She'd just grabbed Sai, absolutely furious with his apparent betrayal –  _just like Sasuke_  – and then suddenly, there he was. When she'd thought about their eventual reunion, she figured he's have come home willingly. She'd cry, of course, and he would scowl a bit. Just like in the good old days.

But he was so different. Taller, of course. Thinner, but more muscled. It was his eyes that had changed the most. Whilst Sasuke had never really shown his emotions that much, his eyes had been very emotive, burning furiously, alight with good humour or brimming with sadness. But now, they held nothing. Just dark, staring eyes with no emotion whatsoever. Empty.

When he attacked Naruto like that, left him broken on the floor –  _what had he_ **done**   _to him?_ – she felt a deep certainty that he was never going to come home willingly. She was never going to be able to welcome him back, never going to be able to help him through the burden of his hatred and need for revenge, as she'd planned. All this time, she realised, she'd been thinking of Sasuke as  _stolen_.

She had felt as though Orochimaru had manipulated him into leaving, that he'd had no choice, had to leave for revenge. But seeing him cold-heartedly about to stab Naruto snapped something within her. He wanted to leave. He didn't care about them enough to even explain why. Had left her with nothing but a cryptic 'thank you.' Had left her unconscious in the middle of the night, on a stone bench.

_He'd wanted to leave._

And that realisation was what drove her to attack him, to raise her fist and charge, ignoring the bloodlust emanating from him as he noticed her. Didn't feel any thrill for finally being noticed by him. Just pumped all her chakra to her fist, determined to do this on her own. To break him, if that's what it took to bring him home. Sasuke's eyes had whirred into red, fixed upon her fist and he drew his sword. He would be able to read what her fist could do to him. He knew she was a threat.

And then Yamato, brave, interfering Yamato had charged in heroically, took the hit for her and she'd been forced to watch  _again_  as an ally writhed in pain because of her. Because of his good intentions, she was once again rendered useless.

 _Never again_ , Sakura vowed. I'm not going to be a helpless cry-baby. I'm going to fight for myself, get stronger and bring Sasuke back whether the selfish bastard likes it or not.

She'd tossed and turned all night, partially due to defiant thoughts racing through her mind, but mostly because the heat left her sweaty and hugely uncomfortable.

She got up at around four o'clock in the morning, checking the sun just rising and seeing that it was slightly cooler now.

She headed up to the roof, hoping there'd be somewhere to sit and watch the sunrise. She located the staircase after walking aimlessly around a few corridors, confused by the similar-looking walls and floors. The door at the top had opened up to reveal a flat, sand-coloured roof. She had gathered up her nightgown and carefully stepped over the tiny barrier.

There was the smallest of breezes, her gown blew around her ankles as she sat down and hugged her knees. The sun was rising slowly, the dark blue sky beginning to give way to orange and red light. Suna was quiet and peaceful; the odd circular buildings glinted in the sunlight. The market was abandoned, stalls packed up. The odd wicker basket of fruit had been forgotten and ripe berries decorated the sand below. Sakura leant over to look at them, fat and juicy, sitting in the sand.

There was a flare of chakra, and she nearly fell off the roof in shock.

"Sakura." That voice was similar to Sasuke's, and yet nothing like it. Both had hoarse, deep tones, but Gaara would never spit insults out in spite-laced words as Sasuke so loved doing. And she really should stop comparing the two.

"Kazekage-sama!" She exclaimed, brushing away the dried remnants of tears left over from reminiscing about Sasuke's rare but beautiful smile. God, what would he think of her, crying like a baby all the time?

"Can you not sleep?" He asked, sitting down next to her.

"Not really. It's much hotter than I'm used to. What about you?"

"Try drinking iced water every fifteen minutes for an hour before bed." He replied. She noticed he ignored her question, "I wanted to ask… are you happy here?"

Sakura made a face. "I've only been here for a day, Kazekage-sama. Ask me again in a month or two."

"It's just…" The Kazekage seemed supremely awkward, frowning slightly. In Gaara-body language, that was akin to a normal person biting their lip, "Yesterday. You were crying."

"Oh! Oh. No, that had nothing to do with being happy here…" Sakura said evasively.

Gaara seemed to be waiting for her to elaborate so she sighed and said, "It was about Sasuke."

"Isn't it always?" Gaara said derisively.

OK. That was harsh. "Well, yes, seeing as the bastard made me fall in love with him, abandoned the village and everyone who cared about him just after I confessed my love for him, to which he replied by knocking me out, by the way, nice touch. Not only that, but he immediately followed this by cementing his total bastard status by trying to kill Naruto. I finally see him again after all these years and, guess what? He tries to kill Naruto again. Then, when I finally try to bring him home by myself, he tries to kill me. So yes, it is always about Sasuke since he's provided around seventy-five percent of the shit in my life!" Sakura just about shouted, hands curling into fists and striking the roof in anger. She had never said 'shit' in front of such an important person before and when she realised this she covered her mouth in horror.

Gaara had just widened his eyes in response to the rant, apparently not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout but… I hate that it's all about Sasuke too. I hate that he's all I can think about. I hate it." Sakura said softly, dropping her head down to touch her knees.

She started to cry again, hating herself. Why did she have to be such a wimp? "I'm s-sorry," She said, mouth screwed up and her words sounding thick through the tears, "I'm such a coward. Such a baby. I can't believe I'm c-crying in front of the… Kazekage! So stupid…" Her voice trailed off into bitten-off sobs as she tried to stop the tears.

"Why do you say you are a coward?" Gaara asked. He looked very young and serious then, not clad in his typical Kazekage robes, but in a simple black shirt and trousers.

"Well... Naruto is going through the same thing as me, but he isn't crying! He's training, hard, because he's determined to bring back Sasuke and he's strong and I'm… not. Even when we were kids… even though I was supposed to be a kunoichi, wasn't supposed to get scared… I was always told to keep out of fights… Naruto and Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei would always protect me and I'd just think, hey, wait a minute, don't I count too? Aren't I a ninja like all of you? Why am I so weak?" She dissolved into sobs and pressed her face into her hands, shaking.

After a minute or two of silence, Gaara finally spoke up, sounding firm, "I would not have employed a weak ninja. Why do you always compare yourself with those two?"

Sakura blinked, tears spilling into her palms. Why? Because everyone else always did. Naruto was so special, he went off with one of the Sannin to retrieve the possible hokage, he fought Haku on his own when he was just a kid – they named a bridge in his honour… - he changed Neji and Gaara and made them happier. Sasuke was the last surviving Uchiha save for his brother, he had the Sharingan and his general talent and an air of intrigue surrounding him that made him seem so interesting. Orochimaru went to great lengths to get Sasuke. Naruto was going to be the Rokudaime, she was sure of it.

Just once, she would like to be special.

"They're my teammates. I watched them get stronger and felt left behind… Kakashi-sensei taught Sasuke the Chidori, and Naruto was taught the Rasengan by that creepy old man. Sasuke was so jealous of Naruto's strength and it made me feel ashamed. Why was I so pathetic? Why couldn't I even fight? I know now, of course. I was lazy. Didn't bother to train. Spent all my time thinking about Sasuke. But now, when I've worked so hard…" She broke off again and wiped her eyes.

"No, I'm not going to cry about this anymore." She said decisively.

"Good," He said shortly, standing up and brushing off his trousers, "Come on then."

"Hm? Where are we going?"

"Training. If you don't want to feel weak, you should get stronger." Gaara shrugged, sounding very logical all of a sudden.

xxxxxxxx

"Again." The shinobi instructor said mercilessly.

Sakura ran along the log and when she reached the end she jumped and landed in a roll, dodging the kunai the instructor threw at her. She climbed back up the log and ran the other way, leaping off and kicking out, hard into the air.

"Stop."

She landed lightly and pushed herself back up. Her muscles were trembling slightly from the exertion but that was just because she hadn't eaten yet. For all the talk about how hard Suna shinobi trained, it was easier than Konoha's!

"Right, from the looks of your reflexes you are well-trained in evasion and manoeuvring on unfamiliar terrain. Your kick, however, was weak. You rely on your chakra too much. Weak limbs won't do enough damage if you ever run out of chakra in battle. You need to train more in Taijutsu." The shinobi instructor was tall and muscled, his neck looked like it was thicker than her head. He had a giant scar on his cheek.

"We'll start with your basic training pole. No chakra. Destroy it."

Gaara watched as the little medic kicked the pole over and over again. Sato was right. Sakura was weak in Taijutsu.

Sakura's breath was coming out in gasps; her leg ached as she repeated the same high kick over and over again, muscles screaming out in protest.

When Gaara had knocked on the Senior shinobi instructor's door at five in the morning, Sakura assumed the man would be a little annoyed, or at least surprised. And yet, the man had just yawned widely and grabbed a shirt to put on before following them to the training grounds.

 _Weak,_ Sakura thought. That's what everyone called her. Well, not anymore!

She brought her foot down viciously and cracked the top of the pole. Without stopping, she struck it with the side of her foot in the weakened spot, bellowing her anger as she attacked it, picturing every face that had ever doubted her.

Ino. Kick.

Kakashi-sensei. Harder kick.

Her mother. Her knee struck the wood.

Naruto.  _I'll save you Sakura-chan!_

 _ **Sasuke**_. You are worse than Naruto. You should forfeit.

Thank you.

"Fuck you!" She screamed, whirled around and smashed her foot through the pole. It exploded into splinters and wood chips.

Sato-sensei gave her an appraising look as she panted, anger slowly fading. "Nicely done." He said, clapping her on the back hard enough to knock her over had she not reached out and steadied herself against the ground in time.

Gaara was watching her. "Why did you say, 'fuck you?'" He asked blankly.

"She was obviously employing the old technique of envisaging the enemy as someone you despise!" Sato-sensei said proudly.

Sakura leant against the remains of the pole and healed her bruised foot.

"Kazekage-sama… did you get any sleep tonight?" Sato-sensei asked seriously.

Gaara stared at him and then sighed. "Some." He said, closing his eyes and turning away. "Sakura, come. You have those mission files to look through, remember?"

Sakura thanked the old shinobi instructor and scheduled a few training sessions with him before chasing after Gaara.

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"You're Sakura-san, right? Hi, I'm Michiko. Welcome to Suna Hospital." A thin-faced nurse with warm brown eyes smiled.

Sakura fanned her face with her hand, running down the white corridor with Michiko at her side, the patient's clipboard in one hand, legs pumping as she struggled to get to his room in time.

The patient was a shinobi in his late thirties. He was convulsing, muscles going into spasm. Sakura dropped the clipboard and rushed over, putting a hand on his forehead.

"Odd." She muttered, soothing the man's pain with a single glowing hand wiping over his stomach.

"What is?" Michiko asked, filling a glass with water and passing it to Sakura, who gently poured some in the man's mouth.

"He appears to have been steadily poisoned over the years… This isn't just some random exploding gas trap he's stumbled into. This is assassination. Who is this man?"

"You can tell all of that from just touching him?" Gaara said without admiration – just clarifying. He'd entered the room whilst Sakura had been busy healing the patient, and she found it somewhat disturbing that he could sneak up on her like that.

"Kazekage-sama!" Michiko blushed.

"Well, through healing I can see the extent of damage done to his organs, and he seems to have a fairly damaged stomach in particular, with old tissue damage still present." Sakura used both hands to withdraw the poison. The hardest part. She mentally pulled at the thick liquid covering the lining of the stomach. Come on, she urged.

The poison lifted, and she pulled it through the skin carefully, depositing it into the white tray Michiko helpfully provided.

"The poison is gone, but he'll need regular healing." Sakura began to fan her face again. Why did it have to be so hot?

"He's a captain of an elite squad. Can you tell the method of poisoning?" Gaara asked, stepping further into the room to examine the man.

Sakura tied her hair up with practised ease to keep it out of her face. She looked over the man's body and placed her hands on his chest, "Heart seems unaffected." She let her hands drift over the man's torso. She finally withdrew and sighed.

"It seems likely he was being poisoned through something he'd ingest regularly. Food, drink, etc. The damage is all in his stomach." Sakura frowned. Why would an elite squad member be selected for assassination? It didn't make sense. Assassinating was usually a political manner, had she ever expected anyone to be a victim of an assassination plot, it would be Gaara, not a captain.

"Or medicine." Gaara said meaningfully.

Sakura stared back at him. "Who is the nurse assigned to his medicine?"

Gaara picked up the dropped clipboard and studied it. "Michiko-san, it seems."

Michiko was backing away in horror, "Kazekage-sama…"

"You have been slowly poisoning my squad members whenever they come here, injured. They all have the same symptoms. These symptoms exacerbate whenever you are assigned to them. The Senior Nurse grew suspicious and informed me. Which village is paying for you to kill Suna's elite shinobi?" Gaara slowly began to walk towards Michiko, herding her into the corner.

"Michiko-san?" Sakura felt herself stiffen in shock. This nice, friendly nurse, a spy, an assassin?

"I haven't done anything wrong!" Michiko protested.

Gaara wordlessly lifted a hand, and two men in Anbu masks dropped down next to him. Sakura jumped. Anbu were scarily good at evading detection, but it was always unnerving to see them suddenly appear as though they'd always been there.

One of the Anbu, a slight man with a cat mask grabbed Michiko's arms as she kicked out. The other man neatly, seeming almost bored, knocked the nurse out by hitting a pressure point. She'd have a nasty bruise tomorrow.

"Prepare her for interrogation." Gaara said stonily.

The Anbu nodded and vanished with Michiko unconscious over the cat-masked one's shoulder.

Sakura felt the patient's muscles tense and she automatically pressed down lightly on his chest to keep him from rising. He was still unconscious, but he wouldn't be for long.

"Why did you say he was near death? I healed him very easily –" Sakura began to say, but Gaara cut her off with an impatient head shake.

"None of the other nurses possess the skill required to remove poison as you do. He  _was_  near death, by Suna standards. I mostly wanted you to be here today because I'd heard Michiko had volunteered to nurse this man on her next shift, and I knew you could provide physical evidence to catch her out."

Sakura stifled a yawn, tired. She smoothed down her apron and white nurse's uniform and sat down in the chair beside the bed, taking the patient's pulse as she did so. It was steady. "He should be OK now." Sakura said, rubbing her eyes blearily, "Oh! You said there were other poisoned squad members, I'll go to them now."

She went to get up but Gaara stood in her way, arms folded. "You are tired," He said carefully, light green eyes looking oddly kind in the weak light of the hospital room, "You've been up all night, you trained this morning and you just used up a lot of chakra. You need to sleep. The other squad members weren't nearly as afflicted as the captain, they'll be fine."

Sakura thought of the captain's convulsions, his obvious pain and discomfort. "Symptoms are symptoms," She said stubbornly, "Severe or not, there are men in pain and I can help them."

"Do you want to heal the entire hospital? Do you want to die of exhaustion and hunger? Like it or not, you need rest. You can't help anyone in the state you're in." Gaara said, his tone firm, "I can't exactly have word get out that the hokage's apprentice died within hours of my care."

Sakura felt her gratitude falter, was he only concerned with his reputation? "I don't want to heal the whole –" She tried to get out of the chair, but she fell back, limbs feeling heavy. Gaara eyed her pointedly.

"I can do this." Sakura yawned, closing her eyes and leaning her head against the arm of the chair. The last thing she saw was Gaara's pale face looking contemplative as she sank into sleep.

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She awoke what felt like hours later, mouth dry and stomach rumbling. She was in a hospital bed, she realised to her embarrassment. She'd passed out on her first day here!

She stealthily pulled the covers off herself and placed a toe on the ground. By the looks of it she was alone in the room, but Gaara had that sand eye jutsu and it just wouldn't do to be caught sneaking out of bed by her boss.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A teasing voice said from the door. Sakura jumped back into bed as though the floor had burnt her.

Temari was leaning through the doorway, smiling. "Gaara said that if you leave this room I have grounds to pin you to the ground and  _force_  you to rest," She paused, eyes twinkling, "His exact words."

"I just want to help." Sakura said, feeling quite useless indeed, sitting in a bed and feeling sorry for herself instead of treating patients like she was meant to be.

Temari sighed, "Look, kid. I know what it's like to push yourself and feel disappointed when you can't do as much as you want, but killing yourself isn't going to help anyone. And besides, you already saved that guy's life! You should be proud of yourself."

Sakura thought of Tsunade studying how to heal Lee's seeming irreparable spine, Shizune and countless other medic nins spending hours healing Neji and felt inadequate in comparison, passing out after healing one person.

"Wow, you Konoha nin are hard on yourselves! I never would have guessed it from hanging out with that lazy Shikamaru." Temari laughed. She looked well, with a deep tan and almost pronounced muscles. She was wearing all black, which Sakura privately thought was a little reckless in such heat. Temari cocked her head, looking at Sakura sitting on the bed, fanning herself again, "Hey, Gaara said you're finding it hard to sleep at night. I have a bunch of fans you could borrow and you should just take a cold bath right before bed. That's what I do."

Sakura felt herself smile. Temari was nice, though she'd seemed scarily brutal back in the Chuunin exam. Sakura could easily recall Tenten's face as she landed on Temari's fan. "Thank you, Temari-san." Sakura brushed her hair over her ear, wondering who'd taken it down.

"No problem. Gaara gave everyone a bit of a shock though, carrying you in here with his usual stoic expression."

"Kazekage-sama carried me here?" Sakura's eyebrows rose. When a man can summon Anbu with a careless lift of the hand, why would he bother doing such mundane tasks?

"You'll want to call him Gaara, you know. He doesn't like friends calling him 'Kazekage-sama.'"

Friends?

"Temari, I told you to let Sakura sleep." Gaara said disapprovingly, from behind Temari.

"I did! She woke up on her own! And to be honest, Gaara, you're the one who looks like you need sleep." Temari said, studying her brother with a slightly anxious expression, "Has it been bad lately?"

"I'm fine," Gaara said, brushing off his sister's concern and entering the room. He was wearing his Kazekage robes now, and looked very important. His young face was almost severe-looking under that hat, "How are you feeling?" He said, gazing at her clinically.

"Better, thank you."

"You haven't eaten, have you?" Gaara ran his hand through his fringe, the red spikes wet with perspiration.

"I'll take care of it, Gaara." Temari said helpfully.

"Right. Sato has been having problems with some of the students refusing to use weapons. He's asked me to come down to help." Gaara said.

"Anyone could do that! Come on, Gaara, it's your one day off, live a little!"

Sakura felt a jolt of surprise. It was Gaara's day off and he'd spent it talking to her on the rooftop, watching her train with Sato-sensei, uncovering a poison plot, carrying her to bed and enlisting Temari's assistance to prevent Sakura from leaving.

He was clad in full Kazekage garb, on his day off. It was either a testament to how much he loved his job or a warning sign that he needed a break.

"No one else will do it." Gaara said flatly.

"What? That is such – ugh,  _I'll_  do it, OK? You work all day everyday, and then you go home to  _not_  sleep and come back and start working again! It's not healthy, Gaara!"

"I don't care."

"You should care! Look, spend the day how you'd wish, and I'll take care of everything."

"I wish to spend the day at work. You are preventing me from achieving this."

"No! Anything but work. Why don't you hang out with Sakura?"

Gaara paused. Indecision flickered in his eyes. "Sakura needs her rest."

"I know what it feels like when you want to be of use but there's nothing to do." Sakura said wistfully, remembering the endless missions were she was forced to stay behind Kakashi-sensei and watch the others fight. Gaara looked a little startled. "Oh! I'm sorry if I spoke out of turn, Kazekage-sama!" Sakura said hastily, cursing her habit of speaking her thoughts.

She knew Tsunade didn't mind being spoken to without permission – beginning a sentence with Hokage-sama was more likely to annoy her – but she had no idea if Gaara was just as relaxed in his nature. She doubted it.

"Out of turn?" Gaara said blankly, "You only offered your opinion."

When he continued to look somewhat annoyed, Temari mouthed 'stop calling him Kazekage-sama!'

"G-Gaara-san." Sakura corrected herself with great difficulty. She'd been raised to have great respect for authority and she worked hard to ensure her manners were above reproach.

Gaara's mouth twitched. Sakura recognised it as a near smile, as she was well-versed in the art of reading impassive people as a result of constant exposure to an almost permanently expressionless Sasuke.

"As it is my day off…" Gaara said hesitantly.

"Great! I'll get started on your paperwork then." Temari said with a forced smile, "Lucky me…"

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Sakura soon learnt that walking around Suna with the Kazekage at her side was not the done thing, as she was stared at by almost every person they passed. Sakura saw a stand which was, oddly enough, selling onigiri. The sign cheerfully proclaimed that they were filled with umeboshi, and Sakura's stomach rumbled loudly.

Gaara looked at her as she reached for her purse and shook his head. He turned to the stall owner. "Two onigiri." He said abruptly, taking out a tiny pouch of money and handing over a few coins.

"Thank you Ka- Gaara-san." Sakura hurriedly corrected herself upon seeing the dangerous glint in Gaara's eye. She ate the onigiri slowly, relishing the taste.

She found it odd that Gaara could be so fond of his job and his people, and yet at the same time hate being referred to as 'Kazekage-sama.' He was getting twitchy, presumably wanting to get back to work so she swallowed her last bite of the onigiri and asked, "What do you do for fun?"

Gaara stared at her.

"Like… hobbies?"

"I like to cultivate cacti and train." Gaara responded.

"Oh… I like to play trivia games and memorise new material for my medical studies." Sakura replied. She had actually meant something that she and Gaara could do together, since they were being forced to share their day off.

"Useful hobbies." Gaara nodded approvingly.

"Is there anywhere to sit?" Sakura asked, her legs growing tired.

Gaara didn't answer, just abruptly changed direction. Sakura followed obediently. When they got there, Sakura felt herself gasp out loud.

Gaara had led her into a secluded spot, a little square with stone benches and smallish trees dotted around. The trees were what made her gasp; they were covered in beautiful orchid-like flowers. The smell that drifted from the flowers was sweet and pleasant.

It was an intensely beautiful spot, and she couldn't hide her delight as she turned to smile at Gaara, eyes alight with happiness.

"It's beautiful!" She said happily, reaching up to touch one of the flowers.

Gaara's expression was strange, unreadable, but not unpleasantly so. He sat down on one of the benches and indicated that she should do the same.

"Desert willows." He commented as she sat down next to him, keeping a respectful distance.

"There's nothing as beautiful as this in Konoha!" Sakura sat back against the sun-warmed wall and breathed in the scent of fresh flowers.

"There is cherry blossom." Gaara remarked dryly.

Sakura blushed, feeling foolish. She knew he was referring to her namesake, but still…

"Whenever I visit Konoha I like to go see if the sakura has blossomed. I enjoy watching them." Gaara said, picking up a stray petal that had fallen onto his robes.

"I do as well." Sakura replied.

They shared companionable silence for a while, Sakura watching the petals drifting lazily in the humid air. She pulled at the tight collar of the nurse's uniform she was wearing, feeling that her neck was slick with sweat. Odd, she thought, wiping at the damp skin, she didn't feel too hot at all.

Sakura smiled to herself. How odd it seemed that only yesterday she had been terrified of this silent, serious man. But now, under the desert willows, smelling the flowers and feeling the stickiness of the Suna summer, she felt that Gaara, whilst brusque and occasionally too stern, could be a nice person.

***

OK, I know desert willows don't grow where I put them but, as the author I feel it's my right to bend nature to my will XD Umeboshi is listed as one of Sakura's favourite foods so I put it in here. I got Gaara and Sakura's hobbies off the internet, I'm hoping they're canon because they're so academic for hobbies, it's cute! Sorry for the monstrously long chapter, I'll chop it down if the readers want me to. <<< **And that's it, that's the whole author's note. Remember when I had restraint?? Neither do I, what happened... anywho please observe how I used to be even WORSE at pacing. Slowburn romance?? I don't know her (also this A/N is not in the end notes where it should be because you can't bold in there. And I like to bold and italicise and generally type the way I talk, which is Too Much. I'm awfully sorry)**


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura had been living in Suna for two weeks when the parcel arrived. A flustered sunburnt messenger from Konoha had brought stacks of letters and presents. She opened the first parcel, excited. Her birthday was early spring so it felt odd to receive presents in late summer.

The first parcel had a note attached. All it said, rather cryptically, was:  _For special occasions. Love Mum and Grandma._

Inside the parcel was a furisode. Sakura felt conflicted, it was irritating to have her mother essentially pin  _unmarried female_  on her forehead by sending her such a kimono, but also immense gratitude, as she was aware how much it would have cost. It was made of fine silk, coloured deeply red with gold flowers embroidering the hem. It was beautiful, and Sakura knew she'd never wear it. It was true that Suna, like Konoha, still entertained the tradition of wearing kimonos to formal occasions, but it would have to be a wedding party or a tea ceremony for her to be able to wear such an outfit. Besides, she felt far too young to wear such a thing!

Still, Sakura hung it on her wardrobe door wistfully. She would have tried it on had she not had visions of Gaara bursting in and seeing her dressed in a kimono typically worn by unmarried women. Paranoid, maybe, but Gaara definitely had a habit of turning up unannounced. Not just at her room, everywhere. Temari had said to Sakura that Gaara was the reason she'd installed locks on her door. He apparently didn't understand privacy or boundaries.

She'd also received several letters.

She had a very long, passionate letter from Lee that she decided to read later, as it was twenty pages long – admittedly in large sprawling handwriting – and contained far too many proclamations of YOUTH for her liking.

Tsunade-sama had sent a short, concise letter.

_Dear Sakura,_

_I hope the Kazekage isn't giving you too much trouble. That brat's been spoiled. Have you been keeping up with your studies? I'm aware, by the way, that you have apparently been working too hard, as I received a fairly scathing letter from the Kazekage himself, informing me that my apprentice was determined to work herself to death and that he was certain I was the one who instilled such a 'rigorous work ethic' in you – that is quoted verbatim. The rumour mill is apparently reporting that I've sold you to the Kazekage in order to strengthen the alliance. Don't believe it. I didn't get a penny for you. You were a freebie to sweeten the deal. Don't worry, I'm only joking! Try to not work so hard, Sakura. I want you to think of this as a holiday. If I get reports that you've wasted away out there, I WILL come and avenge you, dear._

_The Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure._

_P.S. other rumours persist that Nara Shikamaru is seeing the Kazekage's sister. Find out if this is true, please? His mother would have kittens. And I would be blamed. As always._

Sakura was fairly surprised to see that Gaara had gone to the trouble of writing to the hokage just to report her apparent disregard for her own health. She quickly chastised herself for being so self-involved – Gaara probably just wrote a letter to Tsunade that happened to include her.

Tsunade-sama's parcel contained sweetened dumplings wrapped in preserving cloth to keep them fresh. She had also packed several invaluable rare herbs.

To Sakura's happy surprise, Kakashi-sensei had also written her a letter.

_Sakura._

_You may recall my maudlin tearful goodbye. Do not fear for your sensei's mental health, I was simply massively drunk that day. Upon awakening the next day and discovering that my last remaining student had actually ran off to Suna and it wasn't simply a hallucination brought on by too much sake, I may have said a few rude things to the hokage. If she writes anything nasty about me, don't believe it._

_Kakashi (your long-suffering sensei from afar)_

_P.S. I do not actually believe you were sold to the Kazekage. I was still drunk when I shouted it to the hokage._

_P.P.S I may actually still be quite drunk._

Sakura shook her head disbelievingly – Kakashi had done what? Anko was a bad influence on him. How many times did he mention alcohol in that letter, honestly?

Kakashi had enclosed sun cream, rather thoughtfully. She'd expected a copy of Icha Icha Paradise.

Sakura smiled at the letters and the gifts she'd received. She had felt so alone in Konoha – what she had said to Sasuke had been true, when he left, to her, it was the same as being alone – without Naruto and Sasuke there with her. She was lucky to still have Kakashi-sensei with her. Naruto had returned recently, to her intense joy, and together they'd found Sasuke. But Sasuke didn't want to be found, had attacked them both.

After Gaara was saved from Akatsuki, Naruto had become distant, had gone for more training.

Sakura had found herself alone again. But, looking at the letters, Sakura felt a sense of belonging, and missed her friends and family even more. She grabbed a fresh piece of paper, smoothed it out and began to reply to the letters, smiling gratefully, glad to have such good friends.

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After a long morning on her own, staring out of the window, Sakura heard an almost timid, quiet knock on her door.

Temari stood in the doorway, her face looking utterly miserable. Sakura let her in.

Temari sat on the end of Sakura's bed, wiping her dry eyes absently. "They've found us out." She said bleakly.

"What?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Shikamaru and I, we're together." Temari looked away. Sakura sat down heavily on the bed, surprised beyond belief, "We want to get married."

"That's great!" Sakura said happily. Shikamaru had always spoke of Temari –

"No it's not." Temari said sharply, interrupting Sakura's thoughts, "Gaara will not let us."

Sakura's mouth dropped open. "But he's your brother!" She protested.

"Exactly. He's my brother, and he's confused as to why his supposedly intelligent big sister would threaten an already shaky alliance with Konoha for a reason he cannot comprehend. Love. If I married Shikamaru, where would we live? Konoha or Suna? Whichever village is picked gains a jounin. The other village loses one. It's worse for me. If I moved to Konoha, Gaara would lose one of the only people he cares about –"

"But he wouldn't, he could still –"

"He doesn't see it that way!" Temari said heatedly, "He thinks me leaving Suna is me leaving him. He thinks I don't care about him anymore."

"Then why doesn't Shikamaru live here?"

"He's a Konoha nin. The hokage knows how smart he is, she won't want to let him go." Temari's eyes suddenly filled with tears. Sakura looked away awkwardly. She'd not thought the strong, capable Kunoichi would ever cry.

"I can talk to Tsunade-sama. She'd listen to me."

"Actually, I was hoping you would talk to Gaara."

"What? But…"

"He'd listen to you. You're from Konoha; he respects you and trusts you. If you suggest that losing Shikamaru won't threaten the alliance, he might even believe you."

"But I'm…"

"Sakura, please." Temari said quietly.

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Gaara's office was a mess. Papers were scattered everywhere, a bowl lay in pieces at Sakura's feet and sand hissed around the floor. Gaara himself was standing over his desk, clutching his heart, eyes wide.

Sakura took an automatic step back when the sand reared towards her. She could not help the cry of fear she made. The sound made Gaara look at her.

In amongst the sounds of chaos, Sand nin speaking in low urgent tones, sand hissing and Sakura's own, ragged breathing, she and Gaara simply looked at each other.

"Don't cry." He ordered her, his voice dark and so utterly unlike his usual calm tones that Sakura felt apprehensive. His eyes were darting around the room, "I hate it when you cry."

"I won't." She promised, taking a step forward, "Gaara-san, are you alright?" A stupid question, but what else could she ask?

"I'm fine." He said harshly, patently not fine at all.

Sakura, ignoring the fear curling in her stomach, walked over to Gaara and made eye contact with him, slowly and deliberately. "Gaara-san. Temari is your sister. You know about bonds now, don't you? The bond between you is family. No matter where she is, be it at your side or Shikamaru's, she'll still care about you."

"She left." Gaara said hoarsely, "She left my office after I snapped at her. After she went I felt… strange, and the room was in a state. She'll hate me now."

"What did you say to her?" Sakura asked patiently.

"I told her the Kazekage's sister had no business marrying some Konoha nin, and I ordered her to remain in Suna."

"Alright. Gaara-san. I think you said that because you were upset, and you didn't want her to leave, right? Well, if you think about it, even if she moves away, she can still visit you. If moving to another village meant I would never see my family again, I wouldn't have done it."

Gaara sat down in his chair, a hand pressed over his eyes. "It still hurts. What you say makes sense, but it still hurts." The other hand was on the desk. Gathering up all her courage, aware the Kazekage hated being touched; Sakura placed her hand over his.

Gaara jolted away from her, still in the chair. Sakura held on to his hand, stubbornly. She knelt down next to the chair, her face pale but determined. "Gaara-san, you asked me to be your assistant, and to protect you. I will definitely protect you from any pain, so don't worry about it hurting." She squeezed his hand gently, "I'll always be here to help."

Gaara looked stunned. His hand was cold under hers, and as she stroked the skin comfortingly, he looked down at their hands. The sand stopped hissing all around them, and sank to the floor.

Sakura smiled.

Gaara breathed in shakily.

"If Temari and Shikamaru got married, would you let Shikamaru move here?" Sakura asked.

"The hokage –" He began, but Sakura shook her head.

"Don't worry. I'll talk to her. And if the alliance is threatened, you have a very powerful bargaining chip right here!" She jabbed a thumb at herself.

"True. If the hokage protests, I can always point out that I'm holding you hostage." Gaara said flippantly.

Sakura laughed. As her face lit up in amusement, she vaguely realised she was still holding the Kazekage's hand. She ripped her hand off from his, her face bright red in embarrassment.

Gaara studied her face, looking somewhat confused. He rubbed his hand absently.

"Gaara, what the hell." A deep voice from the doorway said suddenly. They both turned to look.

Kankuro was standing, staring at the messed up room with a look of amazement. "Did you do this?" He asked Gaara.

Gaara looked pointedly at the sand on the ground.

"Right, ask a stupid question…" Kankuro laughed. He looked at Sakura and his face registered surprise. Sakura realised she was kneeling in front of Gaara and got to her feet hastily, brushing down her dress. "Haruno Sakura, right?" Kankuro asked.

"She did save your life once." Gaara remarked, turning to look out of the window. Sakura stared at his profile, the pale, almost unhealthy-looking skin, the rounded ear and the corner of his black-ringed eye. Her chest tightened.

"I know! I was just making sure!" Kankuro said defensively.

"Kankuro-san, hello again." Sakura smiled at the irate older teen.

He blinked. "Er, just Kankuro will do."

The sand began to slither back into the gourd on Gaara's back, almost apologetically. Sakura moved out of the way to avoid being buried.

"Kankuro," Gaara said, staring out into the village, "Make arrangements for Nara Shikamaru and his family to be informed that his proposal of marriage towards Temari has been considered, and accepted. Send an envoy to retrieve them and have them brought to Suna. Have the dressmakers of Konoha begin work on both his and Temari's wedding outfits. Have Shikamaru informed that he is to be living in Suna from now on."

Kankuro's face had slackened in shock during Gaara's speech. His mouth opened and closed speechlessly.

"Gaara-san, it would be prudent to inform the hokage first." Sakura whispered.

"But before all of that, have a letter sent to the hokage, to ask permission." Gaara said, eyes fixed on a messenger hawk that was swooping down on its prey.

Sakura blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected Gaara would ask Tsunade-sama for permission.

"I think I may have missed a few important things when I was gone." Kankuro grinned. He'd been gone on a scouting mission for a few months, looking for any information on Akatsuki's whereabouts.

Gaara's eyes slid towards Sakura's face, and then down to her hand. "Maybe a few." He said quietly.

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Temari had been so overjoyed at the knowledge that Gaara was not only allowing her to marry Shikamaru, but to have him live in Suna as well that she leapt on Sakura and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you." She murmured, cheek pressed against Sakura's shoulder. She moved back, hands still on Sakura's shoulders. "What on earth did you say to him?" She asked.

"Oh, you know." Sakura said lightly, remembering the quiet intimacy of the moment she'd held his hand, "Just the truth."

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The heat of Suna was no longer so overwhelming, and Sakura took great pleasure in taking long walks in the sun, feeling the warmth on her skin.

Suna was a busy, bustling place, with travellers and foreign shinobi constantly streaming in and out of the village. Children ran around and laughed. Couples walked down streets together, hands clasped. Sakura came to realise that though Suna was so different from Konoha, it still had many of the things she loved about her home village.

Everyone is the village was talking about how the Kazekage's sister was going to marry a chuunin from Konoha. Preparations had already been made, banners were strewn about the marketplace, cakes and sweets constantly being prepared in advance for parties being held in Shikamaru and Temari's honour.

Tsunade had reportedly not been happy with the terse, demanding letter she had received from the Kazekage, informing her that his sister had been proposed to by a ninja from Konoha and therefore Gaara thought it only appropriate that said ninja should move to Suna instead of the other way around.

Sakura had had many sleepless nights, staying up to write persuasive letters to Tsunade whilst secretly worrying that she may be the cause of the Konoha-Suna alliance break down.

However, Nara Shikaku and his wife Yoshino had been surprisingly amenable to the marriage after Yoshino had tearfully proclaimed that she had feared her son was never going to marry and leave the family home, so she was all too willing to let him move to Suna, albeit with the firm command that he was to visit them all the time.

The night before the engagement party, Shikamaru and Temari visited her.

"Sakura, good to see you again." Shikamaru drawled when she answered her door. She gave him a quick hug.

"Shikamaru! It's so good to see a familiar face!" She cried.

"We just wanted to thank you for persuading Gaara to let us… you know." Shikamaru's face flushed.

"Get married." Temari supplied, elbowing her fiancé good-naturedly.

"I think he would have come round eventually anyway!" Sakura said cheerfully, "He agreed really quickly."

Temari's face grew serious. "Sakura, you should know that it's nearly impossible to get Gaara to change his mind, especially when he doesn't understand the problem. I never thought he'd agree, not for a second."

Sakura remembered Temari's tears. "Oh… that's why you were so upset. But, I didn't really say anything special, just touched his hand and told him I'd always be there to help."

Temari's eyes widened.

"What?" Sakura said worriedly, looking from a slightly confused Shikamaru to an outright shocked Temari, "Did I say something wrong?"

"You touched his hand?" Temari asked.

"And told him you'd 'always be here to help?'" Shikamaru repeated.

"Yes."

"How did he react?" Temari asked seriously.

"He just looked shocked, and he tried to pull away at first but…" Sakura shrugged, "I'm stronger than him."

"I heard he trashed his office." Temari said suspiciously, "Did he do that after you spoke to him?"

"No, before."

Suddenly, Temari smiled widely. "He's getting better." She said excitedly, "He must be. If he let you touch him and say things like that, he must be growing, emotionally."

"I wonder what prompted such a change." Shikamaru mused out loud, looking at Sakura oddly.

Sakura laughed nervously, not sure what Shikamaru was getting at. She changed the subject, "So, are you excited about your engagement party?"

"No." Shikamaru said bluntly.

"He'd rather spend it staring at the clouds." Temari said, with a touch of fondness in her voice. She looked around Sakura's small room and caught sight of the furisode, still hanging up, "Oh, this is beautiful! Are you going to wear it tomorrow?"

"Um… no."

"You have to!" Temari insisted. Sakura traced the form of the furisode with her fingers. It was beautiful, and appropriate for tomorrow's party. The only reason she could think of to not wear was that it meant she was basically coming out as an adult woman ready for marriage. But she was, wasn't she? She shouldn't let herself hold herself back from potential happiness because of Sasuke.

Sakura smiled shyly, "OK then."

"Come to Gaara's office tomorrow morning at nine. We're going to meet there and get ready for the party."

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Sakura felt like a doll. She had been primped and pulled at and painted. Her hair was twisted into an elegant chignon with golden clips pinning it up. Her eyelids had been painted a light green to match her painted nails. Her furisode was slightly loose no matter how much the dressmakers tightened it.

She stood in front of the mirror and examined her appearance. She'd never looked so glamorous, or so unlike herself. If it wasn't for the twisted angle her arm hung at, or the hint of scars on the back of her neck, she might even go as far as to say she looked beautiful. The long sleeves of the furisode made her feel elegant and grown up.

"Sakura, you look amazing!" Temari grinned.

Sakura thought Temari looked pretty good herself. She wore a kimono that had been hand-dyed and was made of several layers of expensive silk. It was a deep blue colour with a purple moon pattern. Her hair was down with a single plait at the back. She wore purple silk flowers in her hair.

"So do you." Sakura replied.

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The engagement party was loud, with guests in brightly coloured kimonos rushing about, offering congratulations to the couple, who sat at the long table in the front of the room. Gaara, despite his high status, did not sit at the head of the table, but to the left of Temari. He wore a very simple kimono. Shikamaru, by contrast, wore a highly formal black silk kimono with five kamon on the chest, shoulders and back. His hair was down, and he wore a permanent expression of lethargic happiness.

Sakura, as Temari's friend and Gaara's assistant, sat next to the Kazekage. When he'd seen her for the first time that night, his eyes had widened slightly but he had made no comment.

The problem with engagement parties, Sakura mused, was that there was an overall feeling of happiness and love. Everywhere you looked there were sickeningly happy couples. Even Shikamaru and Temari could not hide their affection for one another. Temari held a small blue lace fan and kept waving it at Shikamaru whenever he looked away. He'd turn back with mock-annoyance and 'punish' her with a kiss.

Sakura bit her lip and stared down at her lap. She felt hollow. She had once dreamed of something like this, only Sasuke had been there, at her side, and they were the happy couple infected with the optimism of engagement.

She felt a tiny nudge at her elbow. She looked around to see Gaara staring down at her. She noted the difference in height. "Is something wrong?" He asked.

"No, why?" She said brightly, faking a happy smile.

"Because you looked sad, and now you are faking a smile." Gaara said bluntly.

"Oh. It's nothing. I'm just… feeling a little maudlin, I guess." She laughed at herself.

"Why?" Gaara looked like he might be frowning, though she could only see the side of him, since she had turned back to the front.

"I… I wanted something like this, once, with Sasuke." Sakura gestured to the party. She pushed back the rising feeling of sadness.

"Marriage?" Gaara questioned, "But you were twelve years old."

"That's what girls usually think about." Sakura smiled weakly, "Especially stupid boy-crazy girls like me."

"It is odd," Gaara sighed, leaning back in his chair, "The way you describe yourself never sounds like how I see you."

Aware that asking Gaara a delicate question like this meant her ego would be thoroughly bruised for days, Sakura asked, "How do you see me?"

Gaara paused. He rubbed the cloth of his sleeve between his fingers. "Overly polite with good manners, respectful and honest, though not to yourself. Prone to tears and far too self-critical. Very kind. Thoughtful."

Sakura could not help but smile beatifically at the rare words of praise from the Kazekage. Gaara got that odd, unreadable expression in his eyes again and he added, "With a beautiful smile."

The noise of the party melted away. A pink flush covered Sakura's nose and cheeks as she stared, open-mouthed, at the Kazekage.

Gaara looked away with a small huff. "Don't cry." He said tetchily.

"I won't." Sakura breathed out and felt her face light up with another, uncontrollable smile.

She saw Gaara look back at her in the corner of her eye, the faintest of flushes on his cheeks.

***

Sharp-eyed readers will have noticed that Gaara has an odd expression whenever Sakura smiles at him. **< << wow so insight much nuance. **The Japanese clothing in this chapter is presumably completely wrong, sorry about that.

I'm worried the romance has progressed too quickly. What do you guys think? **< << yes, yes it has. You moron. Git gud, scrub. **Should I slow it down? Thank you for all your reviews, I feel like they make me write faster, lol!  **< << shameless plug for comments, lol!**


	4. Chapter 4

Sakura's hands began to shake, just a little, as she placed them back onto the wound to try again. They glowed green, and the skin began to knit itself together. Blood dripped down her fingers to her wrists. The patient was quivering, eyes flickering beneath their lids, limbs shaking and twitching. "Come on," Sakura muttered. Nurses swarmed all around her, checking pulses and wiping brows, "Come on. Please."

Sakura felt the twitching heartbeat thud irregularly twice and then stop. "Come on." She said again, with a hysterical edge to her voice.

"Haruno-san! He's dead. You have more patients, come on!" A harsh man's voice said next to her ear, pulling at her elbow. She followed the man, numbly abandoning the dead patient to try to save another. A woman came to her side as they ran down the hall and wiped her hands off for her, removing the blood.

She was led into a room that was filled with the smell of sickness, overpowering and bitter.

A young boy, no more than thirteen, lay on the bed, screaming in pain. His leg was twisted at an odd angle.

Sakura rushed over to him, calmed him down with a smile and a comforting word, then began to heal the leg. She cupped the knee and began there, hoping the damage wasn't too severe.

"Stop it! That hurts!" The boy thrashed on the bed. A nurse and the harsh-voiced man held him down.

Little shards of bone were floating in the knee. Sakura's brow tightened with stress and effort as she compressed the bones together – the boy screaming in pain – and guided them back in place. The knee healed, she moved down and started healing the worst broken bone, ignoring the lacerations and cuts for now.

The boy was quieter now, his face a sickly colour, sweat pouring from him. Sakura put a hand on his forehead and discovered an infection. She looked around for help but the other nurses were busy healing a few shinobi in the next room.

She couldn't heal both the leg and treat the fever. She was too tired. But if she didn't, the boy could get sicker. She made up her mind and reached for a numbing cream for the leg. The boy breathed out as she rubbed the cream over the affected area. With the leg numbed, she pulled the bones back in place manually, one at a time. She didn't have a clue what the boy had come up against, but the only case similar to it was her own crushed arm courtesy of Gaara.

The leg was fully healed. She hadn't done the advised thing and just set the bone to heal on its own whilst removing the bone fragments, she'd healed the whole thing. She swayed, her feet scrambling on the tiled floor for purchase, grabbing the metal bed frame for support.

"Thank you." The boy said, exhausted, sinking back into the pillows.

"That's alright." Sakura smiled down at the boy. Looking around for potential witnesses and finding none, she moved a hand over his head and removed his infection.

The boy fell asleep, colour returning to his cheeks.

Sakura expected to wake up on the floor after fainting, but instead she found herself a little shaky and nauseous, but still standing upright.

She looked at her hand in amazement. She'd healed an entire crushed leg on her own after struggling to heal a man suffering severe injuries, and she hadn't passed out. Had she grown stronger somehow?

"Haruno-san! There are more patients in this room!" A harried-looking nurse called.

"Coming!" She called back, running as fast as she could. Michiko, though a traitorous spy and assassin, would have come in handy in a crisis like this.

A shinobi squad had been late returning from their mission so a rescue team was dispatched, and brought back all of them badly injured, having found them on the outskirts of Suna. The boy with the crushed leg had been one of the shinobi, just a genin.

Sakura spent the rest of the night rushing from room to room, healing mild injuries like cuts and scrapes and severe, life-threatening wounds.

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Gaara never expected her to come to work at his office if there had been an emergency at the hospital, but Sakura had slept for a solid six hours and woke up feeling fine, so she headed to the office to help Gaara with his endless mission reports.

Sakura still received stares whenever she walked through Suna, but most of them were merely interested, not hostile, and she grew used to the feeling of being observed.

Whenever Tsunade sent her letters now, they always referred to a 'deal' getting closer to coming together, and that Naruto was staying hidden to avoid Akatsuki's detection.

She smelled sulphur and looked around. A man stood behind her, short light-brown hair and matching eyes. He looked hugely bored. He was also following her.

To make sure she was being tailed by this man, Sakura walked up to the edge of the market, turned around and entered several different shops at random. She ended up in the small space with the desert willows and stone benches, and the man was still behind her, partially hidden by the crowd.

Sakura hid behind a wall and created a perfect clone of herself, complete with a distant, bored expression that didn't invite approach. She sent it off to walk out of Suna's gates and walk as far into the desert as her chakra would allow. She was interested to see how far the man would follow her.

She felt the clone politely push through the crowd, ignoring the man who was still watching her. Sakura sat down on a bench, hidden under the shade of the tree, and entered the clone's mind to take control of it.

As the clone, she quickly got to Suna's exit, and confidently walked through, nodding to the confused-looking shinobi on guard. She sensed the man follow her through the gates, his chakra surging as he did something to the guards to let him pass.

Her feet immediately sank into sand, and she hurriedly began to trudge through it. The sun was high in the sky and it was impossibly hot. The man was still behind her, she could hear the hiss of the sand as he walked.

Her toes were burnt in her sandals whenever she accidently kicked up too much sand as she trekked through the desert. She had left the shade of Suna's wall at this point. She took a long gulp of her cloned bottle of water.

The chakra flared behind her as she lifted the bottle and she whirled around.

The man had transformed, his hair was now long and blonde, his single eye was blue. He wore Akatsuki's black coat with red clouds, and his Iwa hitae-ate had a long scratch through it.

He put a chloroform-soaked rag over her mouth that was so strong the clone fell unconscious almost immediately. Sakura's control over the clone slipped and she saw realisation hit the man through her cloned eyes just before it exploded into smoke. The man had let out an angry snarl, furious at being tricked.

Sakura jumped back into her own body, shaking with adrenaline.

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Gaara, predictably, was not pleased.

"Akatsuki." He muttered, "In my village. Again."

"And this time we don't know what they want." Shikamaru added.

"Yes we do." Temari disagreed, "They want Sakura, alive. That tells us enough."

"Why would they want me though?" Sakura said, disgruntled.

"Competent medic and excellent fighter," Shikamaru began to tick the reasons off his fingers, "Already proven your worth by defeating one of their own."

"And a friend of Naruto's." Gaara said darkly.

"So what?" Shikamaru said, nonplussed.

"Shikamaru, could you give us a moment, please?" Temari asked suddenly, leaning forward to whisper something in his ear. He turned pink.

"I  _heard_  that, Temari." Gaara said, sounding pained.

Shikamaru and Temari both reddened in embarrassment, and Shikamaru was more than happy to leave as a result.

When he'd gone, the mood grew more serious.

"Now that Naruto's vanished, it makes sense that Akatsuki would want to kidnap his loved ones and force them to reveal his location." Sakura sighed.

"It could be more than that." Temari said. At Sakura's confused expression, she continued, "You've made a name for yourself, Sakura. You were the hokage's apprentice, you took down Akasuna no Sasori and now you're the assistant and bodyguard of the Kazekage. What Shikamaru said could be true; they could simply want you to join them."

"They don't know you are against them. To them you are a strong kunoichi from Konoha. It is plausible." Gaara admitted.

"But I helped to kill one of them!" Sakura argued.

"They aren't exactly an organisation concerned with morality. I assume they don't care that you killed Sasori."

"But killing him proved I'm an enemy, right?"

Gaara was silent.

"Well, it seems like this guy followed you all the way out into the desert, right? And he tried to take you without harming you? Whatever they want you  _for_ , they'll have a hard time getting you now that we know about it." Temari said firmly.

Gaara nodded. "Double the guards around Sakura's building and around Suna's exit. Tell the guards the description of the infiltrator that Sakura gave us, though if he comes again it'll be with friends and under a different henge, I imagine."

"At what point of the day are you most vulnerable? The guards can protect you when you're asleep, but is there any point when you are alone in the day?" Gaara addressed Sakura.

"When I walk to the hospital in the morning if I have an early shift there's usually no one around. Also when I take lunch at around midday, I go down to the stone benches to eat under the desert willows." Sakura thought hard, "I'd be fairly vulnerable then."

"I was thinking more in terms of when you finished your shift. You walk back to your building, drained of chakra and physically exhausted, don't you? It would be relatively easier to capture you then." Gaara looked serious.

"Oh, yes that's right." Sakura frowned. Overlooking that could have been deadly.

"What should she do then? Sleep in the hospital?" Temari snorted.

Sakura perked up, "I can do that!" She'd been wanting to for a while, that way she could get the rest she required but heal a lot more patients.

"No." Gaara said, frustrated, "Don't be ridiculous."

"Other nurses do it!" Sakura protested.

"Senior nurses. Until you get promoted, you aren't allowed to stay after your shift," Gaara said, his tone final.

"She can sleep here." Temari suggested.

Gaara looked incredulous, "Where do you suggest I put her?"

The Kazekage's Compound was a restricted area for most people. Though Sakura was allowed to go where she liked, she certainly wasn't allowed to sleep in the same building as the Kazekage.

"In the guests' quarters." Temari jabbed a thumb to the right, indicating the section of apartments built for high-level guests, like visiting Kages.

Gaara seemed to be thinking about it. He breathed in sharply, "Fine. But, Sakura, you are to walk back from the hospital accompanied by at  _least_  two other shinobi."

"But it's a two minute walk!" Sakura objected.

Gaara just gave her a look. "I can do that, no problem." Sakura said meekly.

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Her new bedroom was luxurious, heavy cream-coloured quilt and soft, feather-filled pillows on her bed. Her window had netting to keep out insects. The carpet was thick and white. She had her own bathroom. It had blue-tiled flooring and a massive bath sunk into the floor.

It was obviously intended to be the room of someone significantly more important than a lowly chuunin. Though, Sakura corrected herself, she was now actually the Kazekage's assistant and bodyguard – positions previously filled by a stressed out Temari – which meant she was actually entitled to rooms like these, had she the nous to demand it.

The cream-coloured quilt looked nice and was probably comfortable, but hardly practical in such a hot climate. And the white, soft carpet would be destroyed after she ran around in sand-covered shoes.

Sakura blinked, putting her bag down on the floor. When had she started thinking like a true resident of Suna, concerned with practicality instead of prettiness? She'd been a silly, empty-headed girl once, worried that training would give her unattractive muscles and stupidly not considering that long hair could be a nuisance for a ninja who lived in a forest-region.

Cicadas were singing raucously outside her window. The heat had grown intense to the point where Sakura's hair was a frizzy, sweaty pink mop on her head.

She stripped the bed of its expensive, thick quilt, and replaced it with a threadbare blanket instead. The pillows she kept, purely because they felt she was sinking into clouds when she touched them.

She had her icy-cold bath, as was her pre bed-time ritual. As she quietly shivered in the beautiful, massive bath, she looked across the bathroom and saw herself reflected in the mirror.

As she always did when she saw her reflection, Sakura slowly moved around and studied her arm. When it had first happened, her arm had been so mangled a sheet had been kept between her face and arm, to prevent her from seeing it and causing herself distress. On occasion blood would seep through the sheet, and Sakura would be filled with a terrible, vain kind of dread, what had happened to her arm?

As a twelve year old girl who fancied herself in love, having a scarred arm was a massive blow to her self-esteem. She remembered Tsunade-sama slowly removing the sheet – wincing when it stuck to the skin and pulled – revealing a pale arm with strips of flesh removed.

Sakura had vomited on her chest upon seeing her arm. She remembered the pity in Tsunade-sama's kind eyes.

Afterwards, when the sheet was removed, the other members of Team 7 had flooded into the room, Naruto burbling about how he was sure Sakura-chan's arm would be fine, Kakashi's single eye twisted in worry and Sasuke slinking in behind them, looking as though he'd rather be anywhere but there.

Tsunade had made them wait until she'd cleaned Sakura up, giving her a clean hospital gown to wear and washing the dried blood off the wound. She'd told Naruto to be quiet and warned him not to say anything about Sakura's arm.

Sakura remembered Naruto's smile dying when he saw the twisted remains of her arm. Kakashi had given a weary sigh that spoke volumes. Sasuke had looked once and then looked away immediately.

"Sakura-chan." Naruto said, shocked.

What had he thought, Sakura wondered, rinsing soap off her legs in the bath, that she'd have a tiny scar? He'd seen her being gripped by the sand and tossed away by the explosion.

"How are you feeling?" Kakashi-sensei said, in a noble attempt to be tactful.

Sakura's mouth had screwed up to ward off tears at that point. How was she feeling? She was deformed. Sasuke was staring furiously out of the window, just to avoid looking at her.

"Better." She smiled weakly, lying limply in the hospital bed.

Sasuke had looked back at her at that point. She'd seen something akin to pity and horror flit across his face, before he forced it back to its usual impassive mask.

"You should have forfeited." He said flatly.

"Shut up, teme!" Naruto growled.

"A ninja does not forfeit in fear of scars." Sakura recited the old ninja rule.

"And look where it got you." Sasuke said, disgusted, gesturing at her lying in the bed, arm useless.

"Sasuke." Kakashi-sensei said sharply.

She had tears in her eyes. Her back was burnt from the explosive tag and was sore to lie on, so she turned over slightly, resting on her good arm. This had her unintentionally exposing her back to Naruto.

"Sakura-chan!" He gasped, "Your back!"

Sakura could feel Kakashi-sensei's gentle hand on her side, moving her so he could see. He sucked in a breath sympathetically. "That must hurt like hell."

Sasuke, curiosity winning over pride, moved from the window to join Kakashi and Naruto in staring at her poor, burnt back.

Sakura could not see his reaction, but she heard his angry, "Che," and his footsteps as he stormed out.

"Sasuke! Get back here!" Naruto yelled, incensed.

"Naruto. It's OK. Sasuke's just upset." Kakashi-sensei said soothingly.

No he isn't, Sakura thought, tears spilling from her eyes. He's disgusted with me.

Water sloshed over the sides of the bath as Sakura got up abruptly, cutting off the maudlin track her memories were taking her on.

She was absolutely freezing. Perfect. She put on some light pyjamas and crawled into bed, eager to sleep.

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The next day was busy, she had to rush around sorting Gaara's files, quelling a minor chuunin rebellion – a few chuunin were being forced to do some jounin's dirty work and were not pleased about it – and when she eventually headed to the hospital, she was accompanied by two shinobi.

One was obviously just a chuunin; he looked nervous upon meeting her and addressed her as 'Haruno-san.' Her reputation was certainly growing.

The other was a friendly jounin. He reminded her a little of Shikamaru, he had a lazy grin and a twinkle in his eye. He was about five years older than her but it didn't stop him flirting with her all the way to the hospital.

"So, how come you two got forced into guarding me?" Sakura asked conversationally.

"I wasn't forced," The chuunin blushed, "I requested it." He had dark brown hair and looked about fifteen.

"I was forced," The jounin said, winking, "But after seeing you I don't mind at all."

Sakura stopped herself from returning his flirtatious smile. Now, now. Be professional, Sakura.

"Thanks." She said dryly.

It was nearly night-time, and there were only a few other people milling about on the street.

They reached the hospital and were met by a porter, an older man who seemed as nervous as the chuunin to meet her.

"Right," The jounin said, "This is where we leave you."

The chuunin made to leave the building, but the jounin held him back with an outstretched hand.

"Did you hear that?" The jounin said slowly.

A couple passed the hospital's double doors, laughing and holding hands. The moment they left, the jounin relaxed.

"Must have been nothing." The chuunin said, relieved.

Then the jounin slashed his throat with a kunai. Sakura's startled scream and surge of chakra was suppressed by the porter behind her, whose hands now covered her mouth. She smelt chloroform and slackened in his grasp.

"Finally." The jounin said, his henge melting away to reveal the blonde-haired Akatsuki member.

Sakura, furious and blind with terror, elbowed the man behind her with rib-cracking force. It didn't connect and she felt her eyes rolling in their sockets.

"Nighty-night." The blonde man grinned.

The world grew dark and faded away.

* * *

The action begins! A virtual cookie for the first to guess who the porter and the jounin were!  **< << who could it be. Such a mystery. Very wow.** For anyone wondering why a high-risk target of Akatsuki would dare go around Suna with only a jounin and a chuunin as guards, remember, had Sakura not been tricked, she is a very competent kunoichi herself and would have raised a massive fuss, causing lots of shinobi to come to her aid.  **< << or it's a plothole hahahaha**

We finally get a more detailed description of poor Sakura's arm! For anyone who's having trouble picturing her scars, here you go: Her arm has strips of flesh missing, so she has purplish long scars going around her arm from her wrist to her forearm. She also has criss-crossing burns scars on both arms – though less on the other – and back. Her back is also fairly scarred, but as she would have been treated immediately I'm assuming they were only second-degree, and thus did not scar as much as they might have done.

Is anyone else mourning the poor chuunin? I totally am. I know that kid's back story. It has kicked puppies and orphans. Seriously.

I have never seen a cicada, by the way, I heard that they sang and are associated with the summer season in Japan (this fic is set in summer), so I thought it appropriate to add them, especially as they apparently like heat. I figured you'd get a lot in a desert village like Suna. If any of this is wrong, please don't hesitate to correct me.  **< << it's a fantasy village, there is no Wrong**

Akasuna no Sasori, incidentally, means Sasori of the Red Sand.  **< << Google, incidentally, is the source of all my knowledge**

Thank you all for your reviews! Don't hesitate to leave me long babbling ones. They're my favourite kind!  **< << this is still true**


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